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How to Use Pinterest to Drive Traffic to Your Site

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We all know about the big players in the social media world – but Pinterest may not be on everyone’s radar. Well, if I told you that it dishes out more referral traffic than LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube combined maybe you should take note. It is currently growing at a very rapid pace and is especially popular with the post-grad female demographic.

The simplicity of Pinterest makes it very popular too. Basically after signing up you add a little bookmark to your favourite’s bar which allows you to start “pinning”…

pinterest

So, what is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a kind of online pin board that can be used in a number of ways.  It can be used just like a real pin board for things like organization, planning, and showing things off to the world. On Pinterest you can post your images, videos, and anything you find on the Internet onto a pin board for any number of reasons. You can post it so you don’t forget it, to keep things organized; you can use it to plan, and many other things.

But on top of these functions Pinterest uses what it finds out about you through what you post on your pin board to connect you with other people with the same interests, making it a social media network as well. Through meeting other people with your same interests Pinterest lets you learn more about what you like and discover completely new things that you would probably be interested in.

At the time of writing this it was invite only – but this is not a big deal as you can request an invite from the site. Once this part is done you can set up your account and get started. I would suggest making a few pin boards up with a few different categories – make sure to include a personal one too, maybe some holiday destinations, or dream destinations……

So how do I get traffic from Pinterest?

The great thing about pinning your images on your boards is that the image contains the original link, so if people click on the image they are directed to the site. You can also re-pin other people’s images and videos onto your boards doubling the link. Imagine the ripple effect of this for a second? You could effectively have an image that could be re-pinned over and over and over again……..each time with a link to your site. It allows followers too much like the other social media platforms so each follower you have will see your boards.

Twitter allows you to write a tweet of 140 characters, this tweet gets sent out on your twitter feed and your followers can read it. But they will only see it if they are on their timeline at that moment. The big advantage with the way Pinterest works is that it is designed with a form of endless scrolling, which means you can get lost for hours and never run out of things to find on the page.

There is a great set of analytics tools with Pinterest, these tools will allow you to see things like how much traffic you’re directing to your website from Pinterest, how much traffic is being directed to your Pinterest, and exactly where the traffic on your Pinterest is coming from. This allows you to find people promoting your business and reward them in some way, which of course leads to more promotion from that person.

Must Read: How to Use Pinterest in Your Marketing Strategy

 

Increase your Online Popularity with Pinterest

A common thing going on at the moment is running a competition; this could include a small prize, an eBook, or even a cash prize. This should also link to your site and people could have to sign up to your mailing list in order to get their prize. There are many ways Pinterest can be used. I have seen all manner of companies using Pinterest, from wedding dress makers, bathroom specialists, and even plain old boring Internet Marketers. The point is there is a place for everyone.

I have seen businesses use it to promote their company’s ‘human side’ a bit more by putting pictures of staff events on there to show off their friendly side for possible employees.

I have seen people promote their cupcake businesses by showing off their latest designs.

I have seen Internet Marketers promote themselves by pinning how-to videos and images of their guides and courses.

Another great feature is the ability to cross-pollinate with the other social media giants. For example if your company has a Facebook page, that account can be synced with the company’s new Pinterest channel and people from the Facebook page will see on your feed that you’ve started to pin things on Pinterest. They are then highly likely to go and check it out, further reinforcing their connection to your business.

These are just a few ways to use this emerging social media giant. The great thing about Pinterest is it allows people to be creative – a key aspect in any marketing plan.

Are you on the Pinterest train yet? If not, you should think about getting on board.

Wait! Before You Go, Read:

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Comments

  1. Yes – and if you think its still in its relative infancy.

    I think it could be used in many ways, thats the great thing aout it.

    Thanks for checking out the post!

    Regards,
    John

  2. John,
    I agree, Pinterest is a great way to drive traffic to your site. I’ve had great luck by curating content that I found interesting (marketing tips, how-to’s, podcasts, Pinterest articles, infographics) – partially as a way to save them for future reference. I was able to get quite a few followers and the portion of posts that come from my own site have brought a significant amount of traffic.

  3. Hi John,
    thank you for this great post here. Unfortunately I don’t get tons of traffic from Pinterest at this moment. But I know that for some niches it works great…Maybe I have too less followers on Pinterest?
    Once more thanks for sharing your tips.
    Chris

    • As Ben mentioned it is hugely popular with specific niches – a large amount of female orientated ones……

      Weddings, Home Improvements, Cakes, Recipes, Fashion, Pets, Gardens, Interior Design – that sort of thing.

      But there is hope for IM – we are just a bit behind this time!

  4. Really interesting.
    I have planned to get into SMO really slow.
    ya slow i have covered Reddit i get daily about more that 1k page views from reddit and stumbleupon.
    But i wanna try pintrest too.

  5. Yes John, you are absolutely correct that more the number of pins, more will be your online popularity. But definitely, the pin must be appropriate. Relevant pin as according to the board is necessary. This is all what I think. These long tailed pins that you have mentioned above in the post also plays an essential role in drawing the attention of Pinterest users.

    Thanks for the post..

  6. I don’t meant to ridiculous here but Pinterest is meant for girls only. If your website is about flowers, cats, dogs, cooking, babies, recipes, love then you can get a hell lot of traffic from Pinterest. I am sorry, Pinterest is not me. Thanks.

    • It is mainly females who use the site. Though I wouldnt limit it to this….

      And the topics you mention do very well indeed.

  7. I havent used pinterest till now but after seeing it getting really popular i am thinking of start using it 🙂

  8. John, this was very wonderful and beneficial to me as i was searching for increasing my traffic and found this blog. So thanks a lot for this beautiful post.

    • Hi – Glad you enjoyed the post.

      I know some people who are generating huge volumes of traffic using this new social media platform.

      Regards,
      John

  9. Hello John,

    I agree with you that Pinterest can bring a lot more traffic than Twitter, but it is good for niches like dressing, celebrity and recipes etc, but for for blogging and marketing. I’ve been using Pinterest from last 3 months and I didn’t get good traffic from their. But being active is good.

  10. Hi John

    Interesting post so thank you for sharing.

    I started using Pinterest but lost interest very quickly. I think it’s only really useful if you are in a particularly visual niche.

    I also have issues in terms of image copyright and their Acceptable Usage Policy.

    I do still pin occasionally but I don’t generate much traffic from Pinterest so I focus my efforts on other avenues.

    Tim

    • Hi Tim,

      I tend to agree – you have to have a suitable niche. Although one day it may be more suitable for all. I am keeping an eye on it………

      You have an interesting take on it on your post…;

      Regards,
      John

  11. Morning John,

    Answer me this if you can..

    Is Pinterest ideal for average bloggers, I’m sure it’s not really a tool we can use to give us more traffic can we? So someone on our blog Pins a funny image, even if someone’s from Pinterest comes to our blog, they will find no more funny images – but our blog which seems unrelated huh?

    • Hi, Simmeon,

      Sorry its been late in replying – thought my wife went into labour last week! – False alarm….

      Pinterest in my opinion is very niche specific at the moment – you say average blogger? If you mean about the IM niche then yes – Pinterest may be differcult to get tons of traffic from. But – i have a friend who runs a cake business and she gets a great deal of traffic to her blog site from it…..

      So – it really depends on the market i guess.

  13. Great post.
    I did create a Pinterest account some time and though I have been told about fellow bloggers that it can help me drive traffic to my blog, I was not quite sure about it and not aware of its potential till I read this write-up.
    I am told Reddit and Delicious are good too. Is it so?
    (I am already wondering how I’ll manage so many networking sites!!
    Thanks for sharing valuable information.

    • Hi Ambike,

      Yes – I heard about Reddit just the other day – but I had some problems with it allowing anything I tried to link…..

      The app for the Android is not particularly great either so I am giving this a miss at the moment.

      Having taken a look at your blog I think Pinterest would be great for you. Check out some health recipes pin boards, along with some fitness boards.

      All the best,
      John

  14. Well, I definitely agree that the pins remain for quite a long time, unlike twitter, but one question I have in mind is that how many more social media networks would a normal person join? I mean …there’s about 7 already. Isn’t this becoming too much hectic for every website owner/blogger? What do you think?

    • Raaj,

      Yes I agree with you – there are plenty of social media networks out there now. I know you mention 7 but I would say closer to 70! Obviously you are just talking about the mainstream ones.

      It can become a bit of a job managing all your social media campaigns these days that’s why like Chris says, just stick to the ones that you are comfortable with and are relevant to your niche.

      Regards,
      John

  15. Thanks for the info! These are all really helpful suggestions on how to drive traffic to your site. An excellent place that’s helped me out tremendously in this area is PinLeague http://pinleague.com. They have done an excellent job in helping me organically gaining followers. A lot of place sell “fake traffic” which is why I want to mention the best place I’ve dealt with that doesn’t do this. Thanks again for the article!

  17. Hi John,
    I have heard about pinterest before but I never exactly learned what it can do or how helpful it can be in driving traffic towards your site. If it is able to increase your online popularity through marketing and promotion as well as drive traffic towards your site, then this is definitely a must have for every weblog owners.

  18. I really like the interface and all the stuff in this social network, I think im a pinterest addict, and ofcourse for marketing i think is the best. because the internet is gonna have a rotund shift in the next years, We will have a more visual interface and pinterest is the best to get started. Marketing in pinterest im pretty sure this is going to pump us up.. 😀

    • Hi Isaac,

      I have a feeling you could be right – that’s why I’m on board now…..

      Regards,

      John

  20. I really want to get into Pinterest but I’m struggling to think of ways to use it for the IM/MMO niche at the moment.

  21. John,
    I recently created a Pinterest account for my employer (I use it personally and had seen how it was being used professionally, as well). My employer has a Facebook page but when I go to link both (I am one of the admins on the company’s page), it won’t let me because of my personal account being associated with my personal page. Is there a way to get around this?

  22. Great post, really informative. Think i might go check it out, i’ve heard of Pintrest but never really bothered to try it, and as I enjoy photography and design it’s probably the ideal place to go, this post certainly helped me. thanks!

    Rick